Safety-valve with an instantaneous release

ABSTRACT

An improved safety-valve capable of being changed over from the service position to the safety position by a blow or pressure on the valve cap and comprising a seating, a shut-off member with a closure position applied against said seating and an opening position spaced apart from said seating, a spring urging said shut-off member towards the safety position, a first means for bringing the shut-off member into the service position against the action of said spring and being capable of being put out of action; a second means, including a retractable retaining bolt, substituted for said first means in holding said valve in the service position when said first means is out of action, and means for instantaneously removing said bolt in case of urgency, whereby said shut-off member moves immediately into the safety position.

United States Patent 1191 3,802,459 Geraudie Apr. 9, 1974 SAFETY-VALVE WITH AN 1.715.504 6/1929 Johnston et al 251/66 INSTANTANEOUS RELEASE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1751 inventor: Pierre Geraudie, Paris France 532,943 3/1958 Belgium 251/74 [73] Assignee: Etablissements Doyer S.A.,.Paris,

France Primary ExaminerAlan Cohan Assistant Examiner-Gerald A. Michalsky [22] Flled' 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Young and Thompson [21] Appl. No.: 331,377

v I [57] ABSTRACT [30] Forelgn Application Pnonty Data An improved safety-valve capable of being changed Feb. 23, 1972 France 72.06027 over from the Service position to the Safety position by Apr. 12, 1972 France 72.12726 a blow or pressure on th valve cap and comprising a seating, a shut-off member with a closure position ap- [52] US. Cl 137/384.6, 251/66, 251/74, plied against Said seating and an Opening position 251/263 spaced apart from said seating, a spring urging said [51] Int. Cl. Fl6k 35/06, Fl6k 31/56 shut off member towards the Safety position a first [58] new g' 9 2 6' means for bringing the shut-off member into the service a position against the action of said spring and 200/166 SD; 70/389 being capable of being put out of action; a second 1 means, including a retractable retaining bolt, substi- [56] References cued tuted for said first means in holding said valve in the U ITE ST PATENTS service position when said first means is out of action, 2,082,643 6/1937 Leece 251/74 X and means for instantaneously removing said bolt in 3,1 15,330 12/1963 Dollison 251/74 X case of urgency, whereby said shut-off member moves 443,886 12/1890 Weil 70/389 X immediately into the safety position, 3,127,786 4/1964 Wooley 251/297 X 3,346,232 10/1967 Cator 251/66 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures VUENTED APR 9 i974 FIGS.

. SAFETY-VALVE WITH AN INSTANTANEOUS RELEASE The present invention relates to a safety-valve comprising a seating and a shutter member having a position of closure in which it is applied against this seating, and a position of opening in which it is moved away from the said seating, a spring urging the said shutter member towards one of these two positions, known as the safety position, the other position being known as the normal service position. 1

The invention has for its object a valve of this kind arranged so as to pass immediately from the service position to the safety position in the event of urgent need.

The valve according to the invention is characterized on the one hand by first means co-operating with the shutter member in order to bring it into the service position against the action of the spring, and arranged to be put out of action, and on the other hand by a second means consisting of a retractable retaining bolt intended to be substitutedfor the first means in maintaining the valve in the service position after the said first means have been put out of action, the said bolt being intended to be instantaneously withdrawn incase of urgent need in order to cause the immediate passage of the shutter member into the safety position under the action of the spring.

The first means preferably comprise an operating member coupled to the shutter member, while the fixed cap surrounds the operating member. and is in turn surrounded by an axially movable cap, while the retention bolt comprises balls which are housed in the fixed end member and which co-operate alternatively, on the one hand with the annular groove of the operating member for locking the said operating member, and on the other hand with an annular groove of the moving cap in order to unlock the saidoperating member.

.In one form of construction, the moving cap is re turned by a spring into a position in which its groove is displaced with respect to the balls, and it is by acting on this moving cap against the resistance offered by the said spring that 'the groove of the moving cap is brought opposite the balls in order to enable the latter to escape from the groove of the operating member so as to cause the immediate passage of the valve'into the safety'position.

One form of embodiment of the invention is described below by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

is to say of the roller 18 with respect to the ramps 17,

the assembly 14, is allowed to be lowered by the spring 16, in order that the shutter 14 may be applied against the seating 11, or alternatively may be held lifted against the action of the spring 16, in order to remove the shutter member 14 from the seating 11.

The body 10 is covered by a fixed cap 19 which surrounds the operating member 15, and which is pro- FIG. 1 is a general view of the safety-valve with the taining bolt in another position.

Reference will first be made to FIG. 1 in which the valve is constituted by a gas-cock having a fixed body 10 and a seating 11. This cock is for example a safety insolating cock,"but it may be used in many other applications.

. 1 With the seatingll co operates a shutter member 14 which is carried by an operating member 15 mounted rotatably between a closure position (FIG. 1) and an opening position, displaced from the previous position by 90. The system 14, 15 is urged by a spring 16 into vided at its upper extremity with an opening 20 for the introduction of an operating key 21.

The extremity 24 of the key is flattened and widened, and the hole 20 is itself oblong in order that the extremity 24 can only be engaged in the hole 20 always in the same angular position. The extremity 24 co-operates with a housing 25, for example in the form of a milled slot which is formed in the upper extremity of the operating member 15. This housing also has an oblong section, so that the extremity 24 of the key 21 can only pass into this housing 25 with a precisely determined orientation.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fixed cap 19 comprises three holes 30 at 120, in which three balls 31 are respectively housed.

The fixed cap 19 is surrounded by an axially movable cap 32 which is urged upwards by a spring 33 until it comesinto abutment against a stop-ring 34.

' The balls 31 co-operate alternatively on the one hand with an annular groove 35 in the operating member 15 for the locking of the said operating member 15, and on the other handwith an annular groove 36 of the moving cap 32 for unlocking the operating member 15.

The assembly 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 according to the invention constitutes a locking arrangement.

In the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the operating 7 member 15 occupies the so-called closure position, in which the housing 25 coincides with the hole 20 of the fixed cap 19. The rollers 18 are then at the bottom of the ramps 17 and the assembly 14 and 15 is applied in closure by the spring 16 againstthe seating 11. In this position, the groove 35 is displaced with respect to the balls 31, while the groove 36 is arranged opposite the balls 31 and receives them which holds the cap 32 in the lowered position against the action of the spring 33.

In order to open the cock, the extremity 24 of the key 21 is engaged in the aligned holes 20 and 25, and the key 21 is turned through By this movement, the rollers 18 are moved upwards to the top of the ramps 17, which raises axially the assembly 14, 15 and moves it away from the seating 11.

The groove 35 reaches the level of the balls 31 and the latter become engaged in the grooves 35 (FIG. 3), which liberates the moving cap 32, the latter being urged by the spring 33 until it is in abutment against the stop-ring 34. It will be noted that the cock is then-maintained open, irrespective of the high or low position of the rollers 18 on the ramps 17.

In the position shown in FIG. 3, the orientations of the holes 25 and 20 are at 90to each other, which prevents the withdrawal of the key 21.'In order to be able to withdraw the key 21, the operating member 15 must be rotated through 90, until the orientations of the holes 20 and 25 coincide, which furthermore leaves the cock open, since the balls 31 remain engaged in the groove 35 and hold the assembly 14, away from the seating 11.

in case of need, it is necessary only to push the moving cap 32 so as to bring it from the top position to the bottom position, in which the holes 31 are allowed to pass into the groove 36, which instantaneously liberates the operating member 15 and permits the immediate downward axial movement of the assembly 14, 15 under the action of the spring 16, to the position of application of closure.

The particularly simple construction and the very convenient operation of the locking device according to the invention will be appreciated.

It should be noted that the bolt, instead of the balls 31, may comprise a pin, a trigger, etc., or again it may comprise a member of fusible material in order to ensure safety automatically in the event of a rise in temperature.

It is also possible to utilize the translation movement of the cap 32 between the service position and the safety position to close or open an electric circuit, either by means of blade contacts rigidly secured on the fixed and moving parts of the valve through the intermediary of insulating elements, or by any other means such as a photo-electric cell, a proximity detector, etc.; the contact elements may also be located outside the zone in which the valve is located (isolated by a casing for example) and moves under the effect of magnets secured to the fixed and moving parts on the outside of the casing.

It is thus possible to combine the passage from the service position to the safety position, either with a direct interruption of the electric current, which for example supplies pumps, burners, etc., or with an alarm trip, or with an interruption of current through the intermediary of a relay, etc.

The service position has been described as being the normally open position and the safety position as being the normally closed position, but the invention is also applicable when the service position is the normally closed position and the safety position is the normally open position.

The invention is furthermore applicable, not only to gas cocks but also to liquid cocks, etc. In the example described and illustrated, the cock is of the two-way type. It will however be observed that the invention is also applicable when the cock is provided with three ways or more. a

What I claim is:

l. A safety valve comprising, abody member defining a valve seat, a valve member movably mounted in said body member between a closed position in which the valve member is in engagement with the valve seat and an open position in which the valve member is remote from the valve seat, first resilient-means biasing the valve member towards said closed position, an operating member rigidly connected to the valve member and having a first groove, a first cap fixed to said body member and having passages extending through the walls thereof, a second cap movably mounted relative to the first cap and having a second groove, latching balls arranged in said passages and selectively cooperable with thefirst groove for maintaining the valve member in its open position against the force of said first resilient means and with the second groove for enabling the release of the valve member, second resilient means for maintaining the second cap in contact with stop means when the safety valve is reset and the valve member is in its open position, a cam surface on the body member, a cam follower carried by the operating member and cooperating with said cam surface for moving the valve member from its closed position to its open position, an opening in each of the operating member, the first cap and second cap, said first and second mentioned openings being in register with each other for receiving a key for rotating the operating member and bringing the valve member to its open position, and said first and second mentioned openings preventing the removal of the key until it resets the safety valve by further rotation of the operating member which brings the openings in register.

2. A safety valve according to claim 1, wherein the first and second caps, the operating member and the valve member are all arranged coaxially for displacement along their common axis.

3. A safety valve according to claim 2, wherein the openings in the first cap and the operating member are adapted to receive a flat wide key when they are in register, the first cap preventing the removal of the key which, when the valve member is opened by the rotating of the operating member, is out of register with the corresponding opening in the first cap.

4. A safety valve according to claim 2, wherein the interior of the first cap is shaped to receive the operating member and the interior of the second cap is shaped to receive the first cap.

5. A safety valve according to claim 4, wherein the first and second resilient means are coil springs arranged coaxial with the caps and operating member and valve member, the first resilient means being arranged around the valve member and the second resilient means being arranged between the first and second caps radially outward of the opening in the first cap and the opening in the second cap. 

1. A safety valve comprising, a body member defining a valve seat, a valve member movably mounted in said body member between a closed position in which the valve member is in engagement with the valve seat and an open position in which the valve member is remote from the valve seat, first resilient means biasing the valve member towards said closed position, an operating member rigidly connected to the valve member and having a first groove, a first cap fixed to said body member and having passages extending through the walls thereof, a second cap movably mounted relative to the first cap and having a second groove, latching balls arranged in said passages and selectively cooperable with the first groove for maintaining the valve member in its open position against the force of said first resilient means and with the second groove for enabling the release of the valve member, second resilient means for maintaining the second cap in contact with stop means when the safety valve is reset and the valve member is in its open position, a cam surface on the body member, a cam follower carried by the operating member and cooperating with said cam surface for moving the valve member from its closed position to its open position, an opEning in each of the operating member, the first cap and second cap, said first and second mentioned openings being in register with each other for receiving a key for rotating the operating member and bringing the valve member to its open position, and said first and second mentioned openings preventing the removal of the key until it resets the safety valve by further rotation of the operating member which brings the openings in register.
 2. A safety valve according to claim 1, wherein the first and second caps, the operating member and the valve member are all arranged coaxially for displacement along their common axis.
 3. A safety valve according to claim 2, wherein the openings in the first cap and the operating member are adapted to receive a flat wide key when they are in register, the first cap preventing the removal of the key which, when the valve member is opened by the rotating of the operating member, is out of register with the corresponding opening in the first cap.
 4. A safety valve according to claim 2, wherein the interior of the first cap is shaped to receive the operating member and the interior of the second cap is shaped to receive the first cap.
 5. A safety valve according to claim 4, wherein the first and second resilient means are coil springs arranged coaxial with the caps and operating member and valve member, the first resilient means being arranged around the valve member and the second resilient means being arranged between the first and second caps radially outward of the opening in the first cap and the opening in the second cap. 